Spring Newsletter

April 2010 - June 2010

06/01/2011

The Richardson's all gathered in Cody for their first family reunion in 11 years. They decided to center things around fly fishing and asked me to help out. I really appreciated the business. Fishing was looking to be a bit tough with the daily fronts coming in and it being in the middle of run off, but as things turned out, more weight in fish were caught than on any other trips I have ever done. Blind luck, good guiding, I think not. I think it all boiled down to the fact that the Richardson's are a fishing family and they have the one thing all fisherman want more than anything else, Great fishing MOJO!

We started on a high mountain stream. It was the only moving water I knew of outside the park that was in any shape to fish. Keith, Norm, and Norm's son-in-law John made this trip. The water looked great and the fish were there but with all the funny weather, things were a couple of weeks behind schedule and the fish just weren't biting like they can be this time of year. Everyone caught 15 or 20 but it was no where near what we know it can be. The country was beautiful, the wildlife plentiful, and the fishing very challenging. We had a blast fishing in a beautiful place! What more can there be?

The next day we hit a couple reservoirs and found the mother load of beautiful Yellowstone cutthroats. On this day it was just Keith and Norm fishing.  All the fish were at least 2 lbs and up. I think one Keith got may have gone 5lbs. These guys hammered them! I'd say a conservative estimate was around 25 to 30 fish each! All were beautiful Yellowstone Cutts. It was an epic day for both guys!

The next day was Women's day. Bobbi, (Keith's wife) Pam, (Norm's wife) Natalie, (Norms daughter) Tina, (Matt's Wife) Matt, (Norm's son) and my wife Dawn came on this day. All the women did great! Everyone landed a couple fish and we all had a great time! We even had Pam"s dog Zeta leap off a 20' embankment into the lake and had a flat tire on the way back to make it a true Wyoming experience! It was a lot of fun! Special thanks to my wife Dawn for helping out with casting and fishing instruction.

The final day was guy's day.  Keith and his son Mark, Norm and his son Matt, and Norm's son-in-law John all made the trip. Again, the guys hammered them!  It was nothing shy of a catching fest with Norm taking the top rod honors. Norm patiently fished the same 2 flies all day and got around 25 or so. Again , all the fish were 2 lbs and up! A spectacular way to end the fishing during the reunion! I would like to thank the Richardson's for a fun 4 days of fishing and also the fishing God's for smiling down upon us. Never has more weight in fish been caught on any guided trips. Here's just a small portion of the pictures we took. What a great time was had by all! Enjoy the pictures!

Keith and I were a couple days late on our annual Firehole pilgrimage this year. I had some trips so we missed opening day. The weather started out looking good with 40 degree temps and rain. Our first look at the river told the story. It was coming up and there was only about a foot of visibility. The wind was a steady 10 to 20mph! Except for this it was perfect!

We started just below the Grand Prismatic spring. This is usually dry fly water but buggers seemed like an obvious choice for these conditions. We hooked up a small black bugger so it would be visible to the fish in the murky water and put on a pink soft hackle sow bug for luck. As it turned out, this was the only thing that we found to be effective all day. There were no signs of risers. We did see a few mayflies and a couple caddis on the water.

Keith was into a few rainbows almost as soon as we hit the water. Shortly after I hooked a couple fat little Firehole browns. The rainbows were out in the current and took the flies on a slow swing with small strips after it came to a stop. The browns were all up under the cut banks. After you swung the flies in the current you just stripped them right up the edge with a long pull with a pause. The browns were very aggressive early and some actually jumped out on the bank chasing the fly and were never hooked. That's one for the PITA guys. We just fooled them into jumping on the bank without even touching them! Ha! A couple of osprey helped give us hope when it got slow by pulling fish out right in front of us, letting us know that they were in there.

The rain stopped and the wind picked up. the better the weather got, the worse the bite so about 3:30 we broke for lunch. We headed back up to Biscuit Basin and fished in the woods to get out of the wind a bit. Amazingly, there were no people anywhere and it was absolutely beautiful back there in the woods. The rainbows had just shut down completely but this is brown trout water. Behind every downed tree or on any seam or under any prominent cut bank we found fish willing to at least chase our flies. Sometimes it is just as much fun to se them miss as it is to hook up. With the dark brown water, all you see is a nice butter colored flash and a big swirl! We finished up in the meadow in the middle of a herd of buffalo with a bunch of babies. As we walked back to the truck there were frogs singing their spring songs. As usual the Firehole made for a spectacular day. Enjoy the pictures!

Mark , Bailey, and Dylan Dobrowolski came up for Memorial Day weekend to fish. I have to say the fishing conditions were very tough for these guys. We had numerous fronts bringing rain and hail at times. Then it would change to bright sun. Most of the rivers were in some form of run off and Newton lake was being filled with water from the canal which drastically changes the ph. Other than that it was perfect!

We hit the canyon below Buffalo Bill reservoir and it turned out to be the best spot we found all weekend. Dylan caught a bunch of nice little rainbows as did Mark and Keith. They even dropped the flows coming out of the dam a little for us. Most of the fish were eating eggs as they have just finished spawning. Midges and BWO's were also good choices. We got a lot of fish!.

The second half of the day we dropped of Dylan and picked up Bailey. His luck was not to be so good. We decided to hit Hogan for some bigger fish.  As soon as we got to Hogan it began to rain and hail a bit. The fish just didn't want to play. We had a few follow the fly right to our feet but just couldn't get them to bite. Bailey was a great sport and we had fun just fishing in the rain, casting and telling jokes. Mark and Keith had the same luck.

We then hit a private pond for some big fish. The weather was still bad. The fish appeared to be taking callibaetis nymphs just below the surface. Bailey hooked 5 big boys but with the little hooks it was very difficult. The fish were hot and the hooks just straightened right out. No shame it that. It happens to me all the time! We still had fun trying! Keith did manage to land one fat fish and the weather changed again and they just quit.

The next day we tried Sunshine reservoir. Keith and Mark had a good time catching fish all morning. There was a definite technique to getting the fish to bite and the boys just couldn't find it. Tough fishing for anyone for sure. We never saw any of the other people on the lake catch anything. We then hit Newton and with the influx of new water the fish just wouldn't play ball. We saw fish and had several fish investigate our flies but couldn't get them to commit. A tough day. Sometimes that's just the way it is. We all had fun anyway and it was great spending time with the two young men on the water. We'll get them next time! Enjoy the pictures!

My wife and I decided to take a little fishing adventure Sunday since the cooler weather had cleared some local freestones. We figured the North Fork would be pretty crowded so we went else where.

O the way we saw just tons of elk. Some even had a few calves already. The river looked pretty good when we hiked down and Dawn hooked up on the very first hole. All these fish were native Yellowstone Cutthroats. They were just starting to move up stream to their spawning grounds and hadn't even changed to their spawning colors yet. They all appeared to be in very good shape. Some were even a little on the obese side. Very nice fish for such a little creek.

Most of the fish were 16" to 18" with a few smaller. I hooked a couple that were probably bigger but they came off before we could get a picture. Everything was sub surface. We used some big stone fly nymphs and our secret fly. 80% of the fish were on the secret fly. We got about 20 fish between us in about 3 hours and then a front came in and it started to snow. We had plenty of fun and decided to make it a short day. Always a smart move on the first trip of the season with your wife.

Looks like we have a few more days of clear water so get out there and have some fun while you can. We saw no other foot prints, tons of wild life and the scenery was absolutely phenomenal! It doesn't get any better! Enjoy the pictures!

Cooler temperatures have most freestones clear and low and the fishing remains good. My friends Keith and Dennis finished up with some Shorthair trials and decided to stop in for some fishing up on the North Fork. It had been raining for almost a week so the sunny day was welcomed by us all.

We kind of expected the fish to be a little off because of the change in weather and I think they were to a certain extent if you can call 30 fish in a half day off! Nymphing was good! We fished the deeper slower runs just below some feeder streams and the fish were there. The North Fork just produces some real quality fishing this time of year. There were animals out everywhere. I don't think I have ever seen as many elk on the North Fork as we did this day. Keith even had to make a detour around a buffalo. Pretty neat! We didn't see any big predator sign.

There has been some good mayfly hatches lately and we were hoping to get it on some. After we had our fill of nymphing we went to a couple runs more conducive to the dry fly. There were plenty of bugs but just an occasional fish rising. We used a small tan cdc sparkle dun.  It wasn't crazy dry fly. The rises were sporadic. The fish were letting even quite a few naturals go by but if you were persistent you could get a nice 17" or 18" rainbow to come up and take. We got 2 or 3 and it was a lot of fun trying.

We have limited days before run off hits and the North Fork is fishing well during one of the most beautiful times of the year. It's really nice to get out and fish in the sun dressed in just a fleece. It is a special treat to take these fish on top. Enjoy the pictures!

Well, I am heading to Georgia this week due to an illness in the family. The bamboo shop is up and running and it is really a lot of fun. I couldn't have done it without help from a bunch of guys so here goes. Bernard R for all the info and general encouragement. Tom M For the equipment and the free flowing stream of advice, Jeff W for the equipment and humor, Harry B for the oven, Dennis B for the beveller, and Andy R for the bamboo. I know there are others and just wanted to say thanks to everyone. Finished my first couple blanks and they went off pretty much without a hitch. They are no where near what I'm going for but much better than I thought they would be. The thing I am the happiest with is the taper numbers look good and that is because of Tom's invention. It is sweet. A few pictures.

Fishing has been very good, even with the higher flows for irrigation. The water guys are raising the flows nice and easy. There is no mention of it but there have been some changes made in the last couple years with regard to how the flows are managed. It is almost as if they are starting to take the trout into consideration as well as the irrigators and I applaud these changes. They cost no one and really help the fish. Win, win!

Lakes will be the deal in a little while. Lots of snow is already melting. The horse head is already visible up the South Fork and it is way to early for that. Let's hope we get the spring moisture that normally falls between now and June.

In all the places I've fished so far this spring The fish have wintered very well. Much better than the last couple years. This season looks to be a good one. Can't wait for the waters to start dropping and the hatches to begin. Opening day on the Firehole with my first home made bamboo rod will be a moment to remember. Enjoy the pictures and I'll see you when I return.

First Fish!

Nice!

Good Shape!

Snowing and Blowing!

Fish on!

Rainbow!

Good cutt on the river!

Big Fish of the trip!

Fish on!

My buddy Darron Cline from Sierra Trading Post and his friend Dan came up for a couple days of fishing on the 1st and 2nd of April. Darron fished with us for the first time last year in a blinding snow storm and this trip was exactly the same. The temps dropped to just below freezing and it was windy and snowing all day!

One good thing about all the guys from Sierra is that a little inclement weather doesn't slow down their enthusiasm one bit. Darron learned last year that some of the worst days for people can be some of the best days for fishing. When you are catching fish you don't even notice your fingers turning black.

We started out at Newton lake. We took a short walk up the bank, looking for fish and changing set ups till we came across one that worked. As usual, it turned out to be the legendary Bah Behr. We should have just put it on at the house. Once the guys were able to figure out how to negotiate the wind, it was on. They caught fish pretty much at random for the next couple hours. Dan's first fish was a snakey brown and the rest were all nice rainbows. The fish had wintered well. The wind was relentless and with the clouds and snow we figured the fish in the river might be up on mayflies. With the wind coming out of the north we could get out of it a bit by getting down in the canyon so that's what we did.

The river looked great and we did find a few fish rising here and there but not the stellar hatch we had hoped for. Neither guy had to much experience fishing moving water so it was a prime opportunity to learn about mending and a few new casting techniques. We set up and worked our way up stream working over each hole. Both guys caught some fish till about 4:30 when they just quit biting. It was a lot of fun and we did get some nice ones but the funny weather just had the fish a little off from what it can be. We did live to tell the tale!

On the second day everything was totally different weather wise. It was still cold but sunny and a bit breezy. We decided to go for some big fish out at Luce in the morning and back to the river in the afternoon where the guys could fish the same water as the day before and see if they could apply the stuff they learned on day one. Luce turned out to be a good idea, especially for Darron. He nailed about 7 or 8 nice fish in a couple hours. It was pretty windy and just getting your line out was an accomplishment. After the first day we were pretty spoiled so if a fish didn't hit around 20" or so, it didn't even warrant a picture. We didn't get the super jumbo but Darron did land the big fish of the trip so far with a 24" rainbow that was just a beautiful specimen. The wind got worse and we moved back to the river.

The river looked perfect and when we got down by the water we immediately spotted a nice brown feeding just below the surface. With the bright sun they were a bit spooky. We fished our way up with just a couple fish being caught. When we got to some familiar water I just cut the guys loose and let them fish. Each making their own mistakes and sorting them out. Both guys caught fish! Since they had fished the water the day before they new where the holes were and how to fish them properly and with much more confidence. It made a big difference. The mayflies started about 1 and there was a pretty good hatch going till about 4. The fish just didn't want to play. I always find it odd when there are tons of bugs hatching and the fish don't respond but that's what happened. You can see in the picture how many bugs were on the water but not a single head or snout did we see. We had about an hour left to fish so we headed to a little pond. It turned out to be a good idea.

We got there,  jumped out, and started fishing immediately. we spotted some huge fish right by the shore and within minutes we had a double!  Dan's fish was real nice. A rainbow of 21" to 22" and fat. With just a few minutes left before they had to meet their wives for dinner, Dan hooked another one! It was even bigger. A great way to end a fun 2 days of fishing. We didn't get the giant we were hoping for but we got some pretty nice ones. We'll get the big boy next time! Thanks for two great days!

Last Two Fish of the Day!

Pretty Bow!

Frozen Net!

Another!

Coming down!

He's out there somewhere!

Nice brown on the river!

Luce!

Another Pig!

Tons of bugs, No Fish!

Tight Lines!